Life Update

For awhile we were doing so good with posting a weekly update and we totally dropped the ball, so to make up for lost posts here goes one major life update all at once:

“What are you guys doing now?” is the constant question people have been asking us since we’ve been back from Rwanda. So, we thought we’d let you in on the answer! We’re not quite sure, but there are a few things that we do know.

While we were in Rwanda we saw so much medical need and we met amazing people working to meet those needs. From people working with the Peace Corps to small grassroots organizations we met lots of different kinds of people working in the medical field and were inspired. After lots of praying, talking and thinking I have decided to go school for nursing! After high school I thought I would take a year off to do a YWAM DTS and travel a little bit before I decided what I wanted to go to school for. One year quickly turned into six and now eleven countries later; I finally know what I want to go to school for.

Having been all over East Africa and having seen some of the poorest places in the world my eyes have been opened to what an amazing opportunity I have to be able to go to school. I used to think that I would be “wasting” four years of my life and that I didn’t want to go. But 94% of the world doesn’t have a college degree and getting one is an opportunity that I don’t want to pass up any longer. There is such a need for medial professionals in the developing world it’s overwhelming. I am excited to see what God has in store for me to do with nursing and medical missions.

I am currently enrolled in the pre-nursing program at Western Oregon University for the fall of 2017. I can’t believe it; after a few years of having not gone to college I just thought that I would never go. I thought that I would work with YWAM and in missions forever. While I do still think we will work in missions forever, it’s going to look different than I originally thought. I think that this will open lots of doors for Paul and I to work in areas that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Here are some major reasons that I want to do this:

Nursing is something that is needed all over the world allowing us to always travel (organizations like Peace Corps, MedAid and Project Humanity need nurses all over the world)

College will be a great experience

I will be motivated to go to school knowing that I have a end goal and a major that I want

It’s an opportunity that most of the world doesn’t get to have

Medical missionaries can get into closed countries

I love medical things and do well in high pressure situations

We’ve moved into an apartment that’s walking distance from Western and Paul’s new job with our friend Camille. I am working from home doing dreadlocks and loving making my own hours and being my own boss! Paul also has some life updates for you guys coming soon.

So many other major things have been going on in the past few months for us. My sister and brother-in-law who live in Oregon had a baby boy named Amedeo and we’ve been so blessed to be a part of his life. My oldest sister and brother-in-law who live in Mexico are coming for a visit today. My brother who works as a deckhand on a gill-netting boat is coming home from Alaska today too!

Paul is scheduled for another surgery tomorrow because his incision from the first surgery has still not healed up correctly. He will have to take two weeks off of his new job to recover but it’s kind of a blessing because then he can spend time with the family while they are all visiting Oregon.

One more thing…we are saving money to buy and convert a school Bus! After looking into different tiny house options and thinking about what we wanted we’ve decided that converting a school bus would be the best fit for us. Stay tuned for a post about our school bus home plans!